Adding ports - Do I also need to add Corresponding Cities?

[rkr1958]

I'm playing around with making some mods; especially in the Med. Below are two examples. In the first example (picture), I've added the port city of Ajaccio to Corsica and Cagliari to Sardinia. In the second, I've added Messina to Silicy. Since a port provides the same level of supply as a city and since the three cities that I added corresponding to the new ports don't have any production capability, Do I need these cities? In other words, can I remove these cities and leave the ports and achieve the same effect as I have now?

A second question I have. Will Messina (the port I've added to Sicily in the second picture) serve both Sicily and the two hexes in the boot of Italy? That is also one of my intentions. Specifically, I want to be able transport units between Messina and the boot Italy (and vise versa) in a single turn. That is, if next to the port, load a unit in transport and then immediately unload crossing the strait.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Yes, you will need a city or fortress to anchor the port. If you don't then the game won't know which city to capture to also control the port.

By placing Messina the way you do then you can quick transport units directly from Messina to either of the coastal hexes at the tip of Italy. Even more interesting is that the units you place at the tip of Italy will be in port supply as long as you control Messina. This makes it much more interesting to enter Italy via the tip (as they did historically) to move towards Taranto.

Another interesting aspect by adding Messina is that the port will block naval transport across the Strait of Messina.

[rkr1958]

Yes, you will need a city or fortress to anchor the port. If you don't then the game won't know which city to capture to also control the port.

By placing Messina the way you do then you can quick transport units directly from Messina to either of the coastal hexes at the tip of Italy. Even more interesting is that the units you place at the tip of Italy will be in port supply as long as you control Messina. This makes it much more interesting to enter Italy via the tip (as they did historically) to move towards Taranto.

Another interesting aspect by adding Messina is that the port will block naval transport across the Strait of Messina.

Thanks. My intention with Messina was to make Sicily and the boot more tactically significant. One other question concerning Messina. In addition to being in port supply, will I be able to quick transport units in either of the two boot hexes to Messina as long as Messina is controlled?

I'm trying to minimic your's and happycat's mod that you referenced in, viewtopic.php?t=5743&start=20

I've added the ports of Suda Bay to Crete and Famagusta to Cyprus. I've replaced the British Garrisons in Gibraltar (Fortress Gibraltar) and the one in Malta (Malta Brigade) with two Infantry Corps. I've added a German Armor Corp (DAK) to Libya.

I've also been toying with a house rule for transport and invasion. Transport is only allowed between friendly ports. Invasion is friendly port to coastal hex and is limited to two corps per nation at any one time. This limit does not include quick transport. Also this minimum can both increase or decrease on certain factors (I haven't worked out all the details yet). For example, for every two levels of research gained in surface ship it would increase by one. Also, for every invasion unit sunk, you lose one for a year. Units invading, while under transport could be be "renamed" to include their invasion transport #, e.g., (Inv-#)unit_name. Once landed, then the unit would be "renamed" removing the (Inv-#) and would free up that resource. This would require some bookkeeping and honesty between players. A few things I like about this is that you can't start off transporting a unit from the US and then mid-voyage decided to "invade". Also, invasion units originating from the US tie up those invasion "resources" for a longer time, due to a longer voyage, than if originating from a port in the UK or in the Med. The longer voyage places those "resources" at greater risk too. Finally, the risk of losing "invasion" resources for a year places more importance on providing proper naval escorts.

[rkr1958]

A couple of things in my mod, the idea for which came from Stauffenberg's & Happycats' discussion of their mod. I replaced the infantry unit in Malta with a fighter wing. Thus, the pp difference for the Brit's are 85 production points stronger (or +85) at start of the 39 scenario (Inf corps + Fighter - 2 Garrisons -> 35 + 100 - 20 = 85) and for the Germans are +80 pp (DAK tank corp). Also, I feel that the fighter wing in Malta could make Italian naval operations and transport in the med more interesting.

Also, what about moving the second UK capital in Ottawa, Canada to someplace in Egypt (e.g., Suez City) or Iraq? This would certainly make the Med more important to both sides and worth fighting for. If you did this would the AI take more interest in the Med?

What about adding a second Italian capital in Sicily? This would cheesy strategy of directly attacking and capturing Rome from the sea to take Italy out easily.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Having a British fighter unit in Malta is a bit dangerous for the Allies because the Germans can send a lot of air units to southern Italy and bombard the crap out of this fighter. Italian BB's can help as well. The best time to do this is soon after the fall of France, but before the conquest of Russia. Britain can't afford to repair the fighter all the time to just make it survive.

If the British have a garrison or corps unit then it's cheaper to repair and air units don't perform well against land units inside fortresses. So a fighter in Malta may force the Allies to evacuate the fighter to let it survive, but it can't fly to an airbase so it will have to sail as a transport.

If you place a fighter in Malta then the logical choice for the British will be to embark it on a transport in September 1939 and send it to southern France or Egypt. Then it can land there and fly to an active theater. The British can then send a transport from Britain with a corps unit and land it in Malta before Italy join the war just to make sure Malta is protected.

This is not a bad choice if you want Britain to have an extra fighter, but don't expect the fighter in Malta to remain there for long. It's far too dangerous to have a fighter there until the Allies get the upper hand in the Med.

I would not place a second capital in Sicily because the game is programmed in such a way the southernmost capital is determined as the MAIN capital. That means the AI will try to protect Sicily more than Rome and that's not right.

[rkr1958]

Stauffenberg,

Thanks for taking the time to reply and the info.

Too bad about the main capital being the southern most one. I guess that putting the UK's second capital in Egypt in order to make the Med more significant is a bust too. While I wanted to make Egypt and the Med more important I didn't want to make it more important than London and the British Isles. Similarly, I wanted to make Sicily more important but not more important that Rome. Too bad there isn't a way to specific which capital is the main one and the relative importance of the second one.

I'm still torn about placing a fighter in Malta. Historically, both the Italians and the Germans heavily bombed Malta. The Italians started in 1940 and were relatively ineffective. The Germans made there appearance in January 1941 and inflicted heavy damage with their Stuka dive bombers. They nearly sunk the UK carrier, HMS Illustrious which would have been disastrous for the UK in the Med. Malta was almost bombed into submission but held on. The German air force (Luftwaffe) was redeployed in the summer of 1941 to support the upcoming invasion of Russia. Malta served as base from which the Brits attacked Axis convoys carrying troops and supplies to North Africa. A number of historians say that the efforts and resources dedicated to Malta by both the Allies and Axis was much greater than it's actual strategic importance.

I was hoping that by placing a fighter in Malta that I could simulate the impact of Malta on the Med. Both on the UK's ability to interdict Axis reinforcement of North Africa and on the desire of the Axis to suppress and / or capture Malta. I see your point about the fighter being vulnerable to destruction, which would leave Malta wide open for invasion. Too bad I can't place both a ground unit and air unit there.

Here's a link to nice article from the BBC on the siege of Malta.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/ ... a_01.shtml